“Who is like the wise man, and who knows the meaning of a matter?” (Ecclesiastes 8:1). “Who is like the wise man” – this is the Holy One blessed be He, in whose regard it is written: “The Lord founded the earth with wisdom” (Proverbs 3:19). “And who knows the meaning of a matter” – this is the Holy One blessed be He, who explained the Torah to Moses. “The wisdom of a man illuminates his face” (Ecclesiastes 8:1) – Rabbi Yudan said: Great is the ability of the prophets, who liken the image of the greatness On High to the form of a person, as it is stated: “I heard the voice of a man by the Ulai” (Daniel 8:16).36A reference to the voice of the Holy One blessed be He.
Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said from here: “And upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness, like the appearance of a man, upon it from above” (Ezekiel 1:26). “And the boldness of his face is changed” (Ecclesiastes 8:1) – as He changes from the attribute of justice to the attribute of mercy for the sake of Israel. Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: Regarding each and every matter that the Holy One blessed be He said to Moses, He would say to him its means of impurity and its means of purification.
When He reached the portion of: “Say to the priests” (Leviticus 21:1),37The portion addresses the prohibition against a priest becoming impure with impurity imparted by a corpse. Moses said to Him: ‘Master of the universe, if he becomes impure, with what will his purification be effected?’ He did not answer him. At that moment, Moses’s face paled.
When he reached the portion of the red heifer, the Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘At that moment when I said to you the portion of: “Say to the priests,” and you said to Me: With what will his purification be effected, I did not answer you. This is his purification:’ “They shall take for the impure from the ashes of the burning of the purification” (Numbers 19:17).